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Spring Lake grad’s documentary to show at L.A. Film Fest

A Spring Lake High School graduate will be going to Hollywood in two weeks to the Los Angeles Film Festival, where her documentary about members of a controversial Kansas church will be shown.
Erin Zacek and classmate Dan Moore traveled with members of Westboro Baptist Church - a Topeka, Kan.-based group known for protesting at funerals of soldiers and other high-profile people. The documentary was among more than 200 films selected out of the 5,000-plus submissions, according to the festival website.

Jordan Travis

Spring Lake

Jun 2, 2011

Zacek graduated from SLHS in 2007. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame last month with a bachelor’s degree, with a focus on film production. Now 22, she is hoping that her documentary’s acceptance into a film festival will help her find a job — possibly on her trip to Los Angeles to see the festival.

Zacek said she also hopes to tour a few studio lots and do other “tourist-y stuff.”

Their documentary, called “The Elect,” was made for a university class, and one of the requirements was that she and Moore submit it to film festivals. After four or five rejections, the two were feeling frustrated, she said.

When they received an e-mail notifying them that their film had been accepted by the festival, both were “ecstatic,” Zacek said.

What makes the acceptance even sweeter, Zacek said, is that the film is in the Professional category instead of the Student category.

The aim of the documentary is to take an objective look at the everyday lives of Westboro’s members, and what it’s like to grow up within this church, Zacek said.

“Most of what’s out there now is very biased,” Zacek said.

Documentaries made by TV news shows typically have a host or reporter asking questions of the church members.

“We take that away, and make the audience work a little more by being more objective,” Zacek said. “We kind of think that the footage speaks for (itself).”

When she began the assignment, Zacek said she also wanted to see if the church’s protesters had a different persona in public.

“I expected them to have a little different private life,” she said. “What I really found is that they are constantly dissecting the Bible” — or singing songs that parody the wide array of people they speak out against, among other things.

To view a trailer of “The Elect,” visit www.lafilmfest.com, click “Film Guide” at the top of the page and search for “The Elect.” The film summary includes a link to the trailer.